For a long time, King of the Hill was The Simpsons’ subtler, gentler cousin. But the smart animation series has held strong, outlasting even massively popular live action sitcoms like Friends and Seinfeld.

Classical Animation grad Michael Loya has worked as a Storyboard Artist and now as a Director on the critically acclaimed show.VFS chatted with Michael about his work as well as his side projects.

VFS: Tell us about your job.
ML: I am currently a director on FOX’s King of The Hill. I was given 2 episodes for season 11 (usually directors get either 2 or 3 episodes, depending where they fall in the rotation). The show recently got picked up for a 12th season, so I’ll stay on KOTH to direct when the new production schedule starts sometime in March.
VFS: What does directing for animation entail?
ML: As a director, I oversee the entire process of putting together an episode. After looking over the script, I assign sections to a storyboard team. The board artists will thumbnail the story, going over the various sequences with me before I give approvals to tighten the board for animatics. I also work with character and background designers to complete the look of the episode. As the board is getting ready for animatics, a timer will “slug” the board, and send it to animatics. I’ll edit it before a screening at FOX, where we make changes for the final board, which will be sent to Korea for the actual animation to be completed.
VFS: What led to you getting such an awesome job?
ML: After graduating from VFS, I got a job in Southern California, working for a tiny company called International Cartoons & Animation. I barely got paid the state’s minimum wage while I worked there, but it was my way into the industry.

I was “discovered” at an animation convention. I went to the 2000 World Animation Celebration in Hollywood to show my portfolio. One of the artists on King of The Hill looked at my resume and was pretty excited to meet someone who had worked at International Cartoons, as he once did. So he took me aside and told me that there was one opening for a layout artist and that I should apply right away. So I immediately took a layout test for the show and a few weeks later I was the last artist hired on for the show’s 5th season. Eventually, I became Assistant Director.

VFS: You managed to find time to work on a couple of other big shows, too, didn’t you?
ML: Yes. From about September 2005 to the first week of January 2006, I was a Sequence Director on Me, Eloise (based on the popular children’s books). I went to work as a Storyboard Artist on Family Guy the very next week after wrapping up. I then got the offer to direct on King of the Hill and returned to start doing that.
VFS: And you have your own comic book label, too, we hear.
ML: Even though I pretty much gave up my pursuit for a career in comics back in college, I never lost the desire to create comics. A couple years ago, me and a friend at the studio decided we’d self publish our own comics, then rent a booth at the San Diego Comic Con and sell our books. My comic, Boom Boom Boom! was an idea I came up with in my VFS character design class. Well, last summer we finished our books and Big Bear Comics made its debut in San Diego.

Nice work, Michael!